R. S. Gwynn 101

No Word of Farewell dropped in the other day. Purchased on ABE, it took only a few days to make it here. R. S. Gwynn is one of the more muscular formalist poets out there through his use of contemporary language and dark humor. In the introduction to the book, Dana Gioia compares Gwynn to Thomas Hardy:

Both poets have a naturally democratic outlook, and they are fascinated by ordinary lives, especially when viewed at extraordinary moments. Both are deeply skeptical, even cynical observers of the human scene, who cannot mock their subjects without soon feeling a common human sympathy.

It’s such democratic cynicism that drew me to Gwynn’s work in the first place. Yet after reading a large helping of the poems, I’m a little disenchanted. The wordplay is remarkable and his mastery of form is an exercise in subtle control, but there’s an ostentatious aspect to much of the work that is frankly overwhelming when taken in large dosages. Poems like “1-800” and “Among Philistines” taken by themselves are charismatic, but when read en masse, with others like them, they become loud and excessive.

Still, they are far from quiet, full of life, and moving in the right direction.